My Muscle Car Life

'70 SS 396

 Just like the cell phone company has today’s consumers hooked on upgrades every two years, so the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s had consumers hooked on buying the next model car coming out.  If you weren’t hooked you were very fortunate, and hopefully saved a bunch of money. I notice that at present time and for a number of years the introduction of the new model cars is not the extravaganza it used to be.  I guess in the first place there are so many car companies and models that nobody seems to care anymore.  To top it off and make it last significant, most car companies seem to be cloning each other’s models.  Even the color of cars seem to run in three or four common colors. For at least the last fifteen years the selection of car types remind me of the matchbox toy cars, they are all shaped like match boxes.

Muscle and Beauty

Back in the best of times for car enthusiasts, before crossing the street you would turn your head and follow the new Charger, or Mustang as it went around the corner. Better yet without looking at the emblem, you could tell what kind of car it was. The unveiling of the new car model year included the equivalence of a Red Carpet Affair at the dealerships, including the search lights in the sky, crisscrossing to guide you to the dealership vying for your presence and attention. For those of you that might not know what I am talking about, the search lights were similar to what is used to get Batman’s attention when the Commissioner needs him. 

Mustang Power

Today you can be next to a Kia, Hyundai or Lexus SUV, and not know what you are looking at until you see the grill or the rear end for the emblem.  I hope you realize that I am slightly exaggerating but not much.  My present loyalty to the Honda brand is due to the resale value that they hold when you are ready for an upgrade, yet in the last five years I’ve also owned a Chevrolet, Ford, and Dodge.  I guess I don’t feel the same level of loyalty towards a particular brand that I use to feel, when the brand, power and look of a brand pulled you in and held your loyalty.

'67 Goat

I don’t want to jinx the auto industry, but there seems to be an artificial bubble forming over the new car prices, anytime they offer you up to 10K in discounts their product is way overpriced.  I hope that a corrective action takes place with cars as it did with the housing industry.  People can’t afford to pay the financing of an 84 month purchase contract just so the consumer can afford the payments of their new purchase.

I for one would hope that the consumers will hold on to their cars for an extra year or two, and make the manufacturers adjust down the price of their new cars.  The best is yet to come…